this morning on "world news now," treatments designed to help causing sickness and even death. >> a nationwide outbreak of meningitis blamed on medicines designed to ease pain and this morning at least a thousand products are being pulled from pharmacy shelves. it is monday october 8th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." good monday morning, everybody. happy columbus day to all of you folks watching us on what should be a three-day weekend for most. not for us. >> wouldn't that be nice, holidays off? we can only dream. >> news never sleeps. >> no, we don't. and i'm paula faris on this monday morning. we're going to have the latest on the )uáu a

moment on the recalls that now affect products from complex prescriptions to even simple vitamins. >> it's amazing how this thing has spread as we reported on friday. numbers are up. stay tuned for that for sure. also a look at some other stories we're following as well. we also have details for a desperate search for a little girl who's been missing for three days. new clues that could give investigators a direction in which to look. scary. >> her mother working the night shift of all things too. also this half hour, the new star of the presidential campaign, big bird in the spotlight, becoming a symbol of bigger issues. how this fictional character is galvanizing both sides. >> you just knew "snl" was going have a lot of fun with the bait and big bird and they delivered as expected. >> yes, they did. i'm also going to show you one of the most daring stunts in recent memory. a well-known daredevil will spend the day being electrified in the middle of manhattan. we'll hear from david blaine on

how he plans to survive this death-de death-defying display. look at that. it reminds you of the gift in the novelty shop where you touch the ball and the zap comes to your finger. >> yeah. and the people tuned in on line can actually control the intensity. >> that's a big gamble, mr. blaine. but first new details on the growing outbreak of a rare form of meningitis link to tainted steroids. >> 27 more people have gotten sick over the last two days. that brings the total cases to 91. seven people have died so far. with the latest developments, here's abc's mark greenblat. >> the pharmacy at the center of the meningitis outbreak announced a voluntary recall of every product it makes, saying this action is being taken out of an abundance of caution due to the potential risk of contamination. >> i'm scared. >> the number of meningitis patients jumping from 64 to 91

confirmed cases in nine states with seven confirmed deaths. the outbreak began with a contaminated shipment of drugs from a new england compounding center. that drug injected into the spine for back pain was contaminated with a fungus that can go into the spine and up to the brain, causing a rare form of meningitis. the company is one of thousands of compound pharmacies that mix their own medicine but don't have to match standards. the idea to let tailor-made drugs for people who have allergies. it's not the first problem. nine people died in alabama after a feeding compound was contaminated with bacteria. but the former chief council tells abc news the industry has been hijacked by those now making cheap copies of safer drugs. >> these individuals are no different than counterfeiters. instead of manufacturing fake

rolexes, they're manufacturing fake drugs. >> as for the latest victim, janet's family is praying she'll pull through. >> everybody's going through the same thing. it's hard to see your mother. >> the widened recall affects more than a thousand products but there's no reason to think that those other products are contaminated. mark greenblat, abc news, new york. >> your heart has to go out to those families watching his mother, the elderly battle that. some of you may think you're impacted, fever, nausea, headache, confusion, dizziness, discokocomfort from bright lighn sum occasions. some of the victims in this case have suffered strokes on top of that. so it is very, very serious. >> and fungal meningitis, this particular strain, is very rare, and it is different than the

typical strains of meningitis, but it is not contagious. so that's one thing. >> it can't be spread person to person, but so far 32 cases in tennessee, 20 in michigan, and then we also have 18 in virginia as well. so hopefully the numbers will come down this week. we saw a big spike over the weekend. turning to politics this morning, "your voice, your vote," with just 29 days until the election, some news for the romney campaign. a new poll is showing a tighter race with the president up by just 3 points after being up by six points at his peak. and speaking of the president he's poking some fun at his sluggish performance last week. he took the stage at a gala event following acts of bon jovi, stevie wonder, and katy perry. the president then equip add quote, they just perform flawlessly night after night. i can't always say the same. the president continues his california campaign swing later today. meanwhile mitt romney is spending the day in virginia where he's set to deliver a major foreign policy speech at the virginia military institute

and later he'll attend a rally at "newport news." he drew some of the largest crowds of his campaign. and this week, of course, it is the vice-presidential candidates' turn to face off. one on one the candidates debate. the debate takes place thursday night. our team will be live for the debate and our own martha raddatz will be moderating the event. it all begins at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on abc. >> now you think the pressure will be on biden even more so to try to compensate for the lack of performance of the president in last week's debate, and this will really be paul ryan's first big debate, and it's kind of like the old guard against the new guard. >> and i think the pressure is mutual. biden, who's gaffe-prone has to be careful he's not going to

affect the headlines. paul ryan has to feel a little bit of the pressure that he has to come out swinging and be just as ready for the white house as romney did last week. it should be interesting with those two. >> expect them to talk budget numbers and the wonkiness that everybody is talking about. >> we'll see. well, gas prices across the country are still soaring, hitting a national ample of $3.81 a gallon. drivers in california are feeling the pinch like never before. prices across the state soared to a record $4.65 a gallon. you see some even higher than that. a lot of it being blamed on a series of problems, including a refinery power outage. governor jerry brown took emergency steps to increase the supply, but it could take several more days for prices to level off. in venezuela it's another victory for hugo chavez, handily winning and it will leave him in power for six more years. he left his supporters to vote

in the street. voting turnout was the highest in decades. some waited for hours but the election was peaceful. >> some people thought he was vulnerable, but he pulls it off. >> apparently not. police in colorado say a backpack found in the town of superior is likely linked to a 10-year-old girl who's been missing since friday. jessica ridgeway was last seen as she walked to a park where she meets classmates before school. the girl was caught in a custody battle between her mother and her father who lives in missouri. police are not ruling anyone out as a suspect. >> the odds are, if you look at the number of children who disappear in the united states, they tend to be, well over 90% of the time, at the hands of a parent or a relative. >> the backpack apparently contained a water bottle with the child's name written on it. it was a wild scene to close out sunday's big nascar race at talladega. on the final lap, defending nascar champ tony stewart made

his move trying to protect his lead. it ended up triggering that. it amounted to a 25-car pile-up. tony stewart caused a pile-up. he took the blame. saying it was his fault. fell low driver kyle busch talked about it later. the outside lanes were going by us and it got to turn three and the wreck ensued. so hopefully tony's all right and everybody that got banged up here. so it's good to come out unscathed and have the car be in one piece. >> that's a lot of collateral damage. tony stewart and the others were okay. jeff gordon who finished second said it was the craziest finish he'd ever experienced at tall day da, calling it bumper cars at 200 miles an hour. >> can you imagine? >> no. >> man, unbelievable. and some lighter news now, chocolate vanilla swirl ice cream is on its way to the international space station with the launch of a resupplied rocket.

this is the first time a privately owned cargo capsule is carrying goods. it's also delivering about a 000 pounds of assorted cargo and experiments as well. the rocket roared into the night sky right on time. >> three, two, one -- and lift-off. lit-off of the spacex falcon 9 rockets. >> there it goes. the rocket will spend close to three weeks at the space station before being release and parachuting into the pacific at the end of the month. well, the most extreme skydiver on the planet is gearing up to break the sound barrier and the world record for the highest free fall, all of this set to take place tomorrow morning. that's when australian daredevil felix baumgartner plans to descent 120,000 feet in a huge

helium balloon. he'll then jump back to earth in a the new mexican desert assisted by a parachute and a space suit. he's expected to reach speeds close to 700 miles an hour. >> how does his heart not explode? >> i don't get it. i don't care what kind of shape you're in. i don't know how anyone would endure that or survive that. >> why would anybody want to do that? that's a whole other species. now a case to treasure to trash back to treasure again thanks to an honest businessman. a massachusetts woman gave a hope chest to a junkyard telling them she didn't want anything in it. after the workers carted the chest away they found an envelope inside filled with savings bonds from 1972. today's value, more than 100,000 bucks, and believe it or not, the junkyard, yep, they returned it. >> what? >> shocked, overwhelmed. >> all of a sudden there's an envelope and i looked in it and it said $1,000 bonds on it. you know, today's, you know, interest value? it's $113,954.

that would change your life. that would definitely change your life. >> wow, that would change your life. the bonds belonged to the woman's mom who died a few months ago. the junkyard driver is working on a reality show called "from junk to cash." coming up, a death-defying feat. a man's quest to harness electricity for 72 hours. >> plus it may have been the most memorable moment of the presidential base. mitt romney's threat to fire big bird. how these ruffled feathers are giving flight to new support for both sides. it's all coming up on "abc world news" now. ♪ >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by consumer cellular. septic disasters are disgusting and costly, but avoidable.

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welcome back, everybody. we touched on the presidential race earlier. but maybe the biggest political happening came on "saturday night live." >> indeed. that's where big bird got his chance to go rogue in response to a line from mitt romney in last week's debate. abc's reena ninan has the details. >> reporter: big byrd took to the high road on "saturday night live." >> before you go, do you have any political statements you'd like to make? >> no, i don't want to ruffle any feathers. >> reporter: but many ruffles

were feathered as he was mentioned in the campaign. >> i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i love pbs. i love big bird. i look you too. >> somebody's getting tough on big bird. elmo, you'd better make a run for it. >> reporter: campaign surrogates keeping it alive in the fight over big government spending. >> he's taken the battle straight to "sesame street" and let wall street run hog wild. >> reporter: so was it a mistake targeting america's favorite yellow bird? >> he wasn't targeting. he was just pointing to one example. big byrd is pretty successful. >> reporter: but the truth is the show relies on less than 0.1% of federal funding from federal particulars. after the debate, some 17,000 tweets per minute came in about #bigbird. >> welcome to the middle class, big bird. despite or because of it big bird has helped the romney campaign to raise $12 million the $48 after the debate. >> how did you find out your name was mentioned in the debate? >> i got a million tweets. >> so you're on twitter. >> no, i'm a bird.

that's how we talk. >> reporter: what's also talking are the sales here at sullivan's toy store in washington, d.c. they say they've sold more big bird items than in weeks past, proving just how profitable one yellow bird can be. reena ninan, abc news, washington. >> incredible. so besides pbs being this much of the budget, they did a poll last year that showed almost 70% of the country opposed defending pbs as well. they tried to do it before. it's such a small measure of entitle management programs. at any rate, poor big bear in the crosshairs of the debate. we love him here on the overnight. >> what's he doing, looking over your shoulder. >> i don't know. >> we should bring him on my show as co-anchor. >> bring him on. everyone else has done it. why not big bird. up next, an electrifying stunt for a well known daredevil.

>> how david blaine plans to spend the next three days warding off a million bolts of lek triszty. you're watching "world news now." >> announcer: "abc world news" now will continue after this from our abc stations.

well, how about that david blaine. >> his current stunt which means he'll be getting zapped throughout the day. abc's john schriffen spoke with blaine as he was feeling the heat. >> it's alive. it's alive. it's alive. >> reporter: it's a modern-day twist on frankenstein, although, this jolt has real-life consequences. in his latest death-defying stunt, illusionist david blaine is electrified for 72 hours. to get a better idea of what it's like inside the lightning storm. i get closer than anyone else. we head up in the elevator cage, protecting us from the volts.

and just moments later, eye to eye with the stunt man himself. now, some people might call you crazy. why are you doing this? blaine always said he's had a fascination with electricity, becoming a human plasma ball. this is not the first time blaine a glutton for punishment has pushed the limits. he's hung upside down in new york for two days, he's suspended himself in a box over the thames river for 44 days, and submerged himself under water for a week. but unlike many of his previous stunts this was designed to be interactivity. the crowd in new york or at pop-up stations toward world is able to control the volt taj and zap blaine with the push of a button. can you feel the pain? he tells me sometimes he feels a slight tingle, but that protective suit is working. if all goes according to plan, blaine will come down, having accomplished another bizarre but amazing feat. david, we wish you the best of

luck. >> thank you very much. >> john schriffen, abc news, new york. >> electrifying story. >> good luck, dude. and me discovering novolog mix 70/30 flexpen. flexpen is pre-filled with your pre-mix insulin. dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. no vials, syringes or coolers to carry. flexpen is insulin delivery my way. novolog mix 70/30 is an insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. do not inject if you do not plan to eat within 15 minutes to avoid low blood sugar. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions, including if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. most common side effects include reactions at the injection site, weight gain, swelling of your hands and feet, and vision changes. other serious side effects include low blood sugar and low potassium in your blood. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions, body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat, sweating, or if you feel faint. i would have started flexpen sooner,

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♪ and finally this half hour, part of the u.s. hostage crisis in iran you might not be familiar with is the subject of ben affleck's new film, "argo." >> it opens friday and there are expectations for it. it should do well. >> the only way out of that city is the airport. >> reporter: in "argo," ben affleck plays a cia agent who plans to get six americans out of iran. they escaped and found refuge in the home of the canadian ambassador. in this film based on real events, the plan to save lives involves a fake canadian film

crew making a fake movie called "argo." ben affleck is the director, the star, and one of "argo's" producers. >> this is the absolute apex of my career thus far. i feel this is the movie -- and i've never said this before -- it's the best movie i've ever been involved with. i'm enormously proud of it. >> if ben called me and asked me, brian, would you -- yes, i'll do it. it was really good. >> "argo" science fantasy adventure. it's a turnaround. >> do we get the option? >> are you worried about the ayatollah? try the wga. >> when you have more than a hundred million people saying it's the best movie they've seen in years, you start thinking maybe it's going to be director. >> who's your director? >> can you teach someone to be a director? >> it's great movie to watch with an audience. the reactions that you get, the

communal feelings, it's just terrific. >> i haven't felt this proud or excited since "good hunting." when i made "good hunting," i had no idea what i was talking about. >> all-star cast. look at that. >> it's going to come out this weekend. i look forward to seeing that. it's nice to see the passion, you know, when somebody's involved that deeply, directing in it and acting in it. >> he's invested. >> he's very invested. >> it's a long way since "armageddon." do you remember that? >> oh, yeah. >> all right. that's the news for this half hour. remember to follow us on facebook at wwnfans.com. >> because we don't want to miss a thing, channeling "armageddon." >> well played. >> how about that one. >> well done, ferris. >> two lines and i'm toast for the day. you can also find us on twitter where? >> on #wnnfans. got it? are we clear? it's monday. who's watching. abc -- >> that's what.

this morning on "world news now," the candidates kick off a fresh week of campaigning with a new poll showing a much tighter race. and the running mates are getting ready for their first big face-off now just three days away. it's monday, october 8th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >> is it friday yet? >> wishful thinking. not even close. >> good monday morning, everybody. i'm paula faris. >> happy columbus day, everybody. i'm rob nelson. 29 days and counting now. we'll get the latest from the campaign trail including a star-studded obama event in just a moment. also coming up, that nationwide meningitis outbreak spreads as the number of cases spread. more people infected and some died from this.

we'll have the new toll from the contaminated steroid injections. and the reviews are coming in from rumble 2012. so what happened when jon stewart and bill o'reilly duked it out in their big debate? kind of doing what other candidates weren't able to do during the real debate. >> a clash of the titans. also ben affleck's latest hit is car accident. he hits a stranger's parked car and leaves a note. what a nice guy. we'll tell you what he wrote, coming up in "the skinny." i guess when you make that kind of money, they'd be like, go on. >> you can take out my minivan any time you want, ben. >> you like ben, huh? >> i like ben affleck, but i'd like to, you know, get the car spiffed up a little bit too. >> get the upgrade courtesy of ben? first on this monday, president obama and mitt romney are on opposite sides of the country today with the president in california and the governor in virginia with just, thankfully, 29 days to go.

>> but who's counting. this morning a new gallup poll is showing a tighter race. the president is up three points after being up six points at his peak. abc's karen travers has all of the latest now from the campaign trail. >> reporter: california is safely in president obama's corner, but he's not there looking for votes. he's raising campaign cash, a lot of it. >> are you fired up? >> reporter: the stars came out. george clooney, stevie wonder, jon bon jovi, and katy perry, all on hand to support the president's re-election. >> everything we fought for in 2008 is on the line here in 2012, and i need your help to finish what we started. >> reporter: it will be a lucrative california swing. over two days the obama campaign's expected to raise a minimum of $9.5 million. no surprise that the president is shattering fund-raising records. last month the president's campaign and the democratic

party raised $181 million, bringing his re-election total to $835 million. romney's raised at least $548 million so far. mitt romney's spent his second consecutive day asking for votes in florida. >> thank you. >> reporter: the republican contender's riding some momentum from last week's debate. he's drawn his biggest crowds to the campaign. 6,000 in orlando and nearly 8,000 in st. port lucy. >> you'll all have a chance to hear his answers or his non-answers. of course, days later we're hearing his excuses and next january we'll be watching him leave the white house for the last time. >> reporter: this week it's the running mates' turns to debate. karen travers, abc news, washington. >> and we're just three days now from the next big debate, as karen just mentioned, between joe biden and ryan. biden is in delaware with intense preparation with the

obama campaign, feeling new pressure after the president's debate in denver. paul ryan campaigning in ohio and michigan today. and we'll be carrying that debate one on one, the candidates' debate. abc's martha raddatz will be monitoring. it all begins at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on abc. they will be discussing foreign and domestic policy, 9:00 to 10:30 eastern time in danville, kentucky. >> you have to wonder, too, if martha raddatz who's obviously an exceptionally good reporter feeling any moderator pressure to do better than jim lehrer. i'm sure she will. >> it would be very difficult for her not to perform -- how do i say that politely? >> you had the debate wednesday. the president had lackluster night, widely panned, then you turn around and get the jobs report. unemployment fell from 8.1% to 7.8%. that was a boost. joe biden getting some advice

from david axelrod, strategic advice on president obama, trying to steer him in the correct direction and alleviate him from some of the same costly mistakes last week. >> paul ryan, first national debate. that must be new territory going up against a 40-year vet. speaking of politics, the race for the next senator is very close. it has been particularly nasty. their debate yet no different. >> i think obama care was put into place to bring down the cost curve on health care, and that's not what's happening. insurance premiums are going up. the cost of health care is going up. we're going to add about 10 million more people to our health care roles. >> let's fix this bill and make it right. let's not repeal it. the pathology of it is you can preserve all the good parts while getting rid of the parts

you don't like, that can't happen. >> the two are vying for the seat now held by joe lieberman, an independent who's retiring. israel is trying to determine the origin of a drone it shot down after it krozed into israeli territory ore the weekend. nobody was injured in that incident. the unmanned plane was not carrying any explosives and it reportedly was not from them, but they have launched similar drones in the past. the immediate suspect is hezbollah according to one theory published. the lebanese-based iran's backed shiites have been known to use drones before. >> obviously the focus, you know, domestically right now is the election but the world stage is still a very volatile stage right now. this idea that the stroke of being attacked as we're going against iran for their nuclear facilities, the language has not died down in that case.

that could drag that region and the country into the war. so all these little pieces of the puzzle that's come out, we need to pay attention to that because it could be cress endoing into something that could be a dangerous convenient on a global scale as well. >> and the next presidential debate will be solely focused foreign policy as well. expect to hear a lot more in the next coming weeks or so. >> absolutely. we're now going to turn to the health scare with meningitis linked to contaminated steroids. it brings the number of cases to more than 90. seven people have died so far. jeffrey russell, meanwhile, is praying that his mother will pull through. >> i mean everybody's going through the same thing. it's just hard to see your mother -- >> the pharmacy at the center of the meningitis outbreak announced a voluntary recall of every product it makes. well, it may still be october by people -- it may still be october, but people in

minnesota are already hitting the slopes. i'm going to try that one again. the mountain ski area became the first resort to open last week. it dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of minnesota and temperatures have plunged, making conditions perfect. >> reporter: what did you do last weekend? >> i was water-skiing. >> reporter: you were water-skiing on the water last weekend. >> yeah. >> reporter: and this weekend you are -- >> snowboarding. >> reporter: is that kind of nuts that in a week you can do that? >> yeah. it's pretty crazy. very in the same state, in the same area. >> yeah. >> reporter: you didn't even have to travel to do this. >> no. >> i think that's pretty cool. the water slide, as the little kid just mentioned, were still running at the resort two weeks ago that. is the beauty of minnesota. have you ever been there? >> i have not. >> it's beautiful. >> i'm not a fan of cold weather. those of you who like skiing in the snow, hey, knock yourself. good luck. >> you're going to be seeing

some of it in the forecast. here's to your monday forecast. frost and freeze advisories in at least 21 states. chilly with evening showers in new york city. showers and thunderstorms from d.c. to the carolinas and down through much of florida. >> 88 in miami. see, that's what i'm talking about. mostly 50s in the northeast and midwest. 60s in the midwest up to the canadian border and 70s along the pacific coast. well, a little bear cub took a page straight out of "goldilocks." >> a family in tucson found quite a surprise when they found a cub making himself quite at home in their kitchen, raiding the food, tipping the trash, even managing to finish off an entire chocolate cake. good call, little fellow. they called for help and got him out safely. >> did you see the photo? the man with the big old gun. >> luckily it didn't come to that. smoky got spared. that's good. coming up, you saw the presidential candidate debate and might be planning to watch

tl v. p. candidates go at it. >> you've never see a smack down like this. two cable titans go head to head. you know these guys. we'll be back with their story right after this. ♪ >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by comfort medical. "world news now" weather brought to you by comfort medical. septic disasters are disgusting and costly, but avoidable.

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♪

i think that's the official theme song for thursday. for those who simply can't wait for thursday night's vice-presidential debate, there was a little something to ease their cravings over the weekend. >> that was, of course, the debate between cable tv's heavyweights bill o'reilly and jon stewart. abc's reena ninan has the blow by blow. >> we're weeks from being worse than the united states, even greece. and the way to solve it is to kill big bird. >> reporter: it's the debate this election season that's clocking in. >> wars, yes, waterboard, no. >> may i borou borrow one of yo cards for this? >> no >> reporter: fox news anchor bill o'reilly to comedian jon stewart. in a 90-minute debate saturday night with topics ranging from funding pbs --

>> give me my money back, the $800 billion back from the iraq war. children's television is on the house. >> reporter: to taxes. >> why is it if you take advantage of tax break and you're a corporation, you're a smart businessman, but if you take advantage of something to not be hungry, you're a moocher. >> reporter: and even foreign policy. >> it appears that the american foreign policy has been going to the middle east trying to buy friends. does that ever work? >> yeah. we can buy friends. i bought stewart. >> reporter: there are moments you'll never see in the presidential debate. >> you just begrudged. >> no, no, no. >> you've been begrudging all night. this is nothing but begrudging. >> his advice for the by partisan divide in congress. one major snafu of the night, some viewers had difficulty streaming the debate live. >> let me ask you this.

>> reporter: there was so much demand it overloaded the servers. >> this whole idea is insanity. >> reporter: prompting tweets like this. your site is more broken than america. the rumble 2012 will soon be followed by the refund 2012. reena ninan, abc news, washington. >> well, hopefully they were able to raise a little bit of money because half the proceeds went to charity. >> which is great. except some of the reviews have not been kind. reuters said the night largely consisted of two articulate but less thought-provoking partisans well marinated conservative orthodoxies. if they deviated from the respective parties, i missed it. i think it's always good to see those two guys from their fame and flat forms come together and have fun with it. >> exactly. i don't think anybody was really looking toward it for a lot of political insight. there was a lot of parody and humor involved. >> and with what all is going on in the woebl, it probably was a

nice distraction. all right, when we come back. we'll see what's coming up in "the skinny." >> you're watching "world news

♪ skinny ♪ skinny ♪ so skinny welcome back, everybody. we have a new stadium in new york, barclays center in

brooklyn. it's a high-tech stadium. all week, jay-z has been holding court in there putting on his concert. for his last show saturday night he did something very cool, very unexpected. he took the subway to the show. can you imagine jay-z rolled into the canal street station at around 6:15. of course, there were cops around him. he had his own security. he chatted with a woman on the subway. he gets to the barclays center to do the big show and during the show, beyonce, his gorgeous successful wife comes out and they do their successful 203 "crazy in love." i think it's cool that he kept it real. a nice touch, a little humanity. a little cool. >> in our next installment of "stars:they're just like us."

ben affleck took his daughters to mcdonald's over the weekend but accidently sideswiped a car. he took the mirror off a park car an left this note. hi, knocked off your mirror, very sorry, will cover everything and signed it ben and his phone number. >> i wonder if he left his real number like the number to his lawyer or -- >> i'm assuming probably. yeah, he probably left the number to his lawyer. >> that's the difference. contact my representative, right? >> they'll take care of everything. also one of my favorite skinny items of the year. "esquire" has named its sexiest woman alive for the year. she'll be on the november issue. drum roll. this year, hard to argue with this choice, mila kuniz. >> ooh, yes. >> there she is on the cover. >> ashton's new girl. >> beautiful girl. she's 29 years old. there she is on the cover topless with the skintight jeans on and lounging on the left.

she had a role, "sara marshall," but had a role in "the black swan swts with natalie portman. this year's sexiest alive. excellent choice. hard to argumentative with that, particularly after "the black swan." >> i think i read somewhere she likes to eat so she's my kind of girl. >> you just showed someone scantily clad. christina aguilera. scantily clad. >> shocking. >> yes, very shocking. it's the cover photo for her new album coming out november 13th. it's going to be her seventh. you can see her blood locks are draping over her chest while it appears like she's emerging out of a lotus flower, which is the name of her album, "lotus." there you go. >> thank you for showing us again. speaking of showing it. snooki's final show this week. she tweeted a picture of herself without makeup, in case you're

wondering what she looks like with all the tanning and the makeup and the hair. that's the real nicole on the left there without the makeup. maybe motherhood's maturing old snooki. maturing old snooki! .

♪ skinny ♪ so skinny >> you're probably wiping your eyes saying, didn't i just see "the skinny"? this is your bonus round. >> bonus round. >> bonus round of "the skinny." >> we have even more crap to bring you. >> we have crap, part 2. you heard about big bird and the fodder. you heard the republican nominee mitt romney talk about getting rid of funding for pbs. anyway, seth meyers trying to pull information from big bird. he said he didn't want to ruffle any feathers. he said he received a million tweets but not tweets. he said i'm a bird.

he said who likes debates? and big bird said decisious. >> they're going to have to give it. of course they had their fun at mr. obama's expense. take a listen to how they portrayed the debate. >> number two, open up more trade, especially with latin america. >> the anniversary gift. i can't believe i forgot the anniversary gift. this is bad. this is very -- okay. i was distracted by the message i heard from bush, but, still, i should have very remembered our anniversary. >> you know they'd get the president over that a little bit. apparently the other guy who plays romney has kind of perfected romney's creepy debate scare where he looks over the lectern and gives obama a weird

look. they both had things at the comedian shop which is cool. >> i can't wait for the v.p. debates. >> yeah, bring it on. okay. rosie o'donnell is a big fan of honey boo boo. of course, she wants to buy her a house. the mom says she doesn't want fame to change her. they said, no, we don't want a house. but interesting that rosie says not only does she love them, but she thinks that honey boo boo has a lot in common with shirley temple. how about that? a little comparison because she's got an eye for talent. >> wow, you know what? god bless. news from inside the abc family. we want to extend a heartfelt congratulations to everyone's favorite weatherman sam champion. sam champion is getting married . congratulations. >> announcer: this is abc's "world news now" informing insomniacs f